1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door trim mounted on the inside of a vehicle cabin door and more particularly to door trim that attenuates an impact force generated between a vehicle occupant and a side surface of the door during a side vehicular collision or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A previously proposed door trim for improving shock absorbing effects at the time of side collisions on the vehicle, is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 4-128912 (published Nov. 5, 1992), and is depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 of this application. This door trim 1 is provided with a plurality of horizontal ribs 5 which are integrally formed in a back surface of the door trim 1. As shown in FIG. 5, these ribs extend in a longitudinal direction along the panel and are, as shown in FIG. 6, arranged to be in contact with a door inner panel 3.
When a shoulder or upper torso of a vehicle occupant is brought into contact with the door trim 1 at the time of a side collision, the ribs 5 are crushed against the door inner panel 3 by the compressive force generated, thereby absorbing some of the collision energy and producing an energy absorbing effect. With this structure, no independent pad is required to be disposed between the ribs 5 and the door inner panel 3.
In order that the collapse of the ribs 5 absorbs the collision energy as mentioned above, it is important to set the ribs in such manner that they are simultaneously brought into contact with the inner panel 3 of the door, and thus undergo uniform collapse to ensure stable absorption of the impact energy. However, this arrangement has suffered from the drawback that since the door trim 1 and the door inner panel 3 may often not be assembled with the required degree of precision, there may be variation in the degree of contact between the ribs 5 and the door inner panel 3, so that there is risk that the panel will fail to stably absorb the impact energy produced by a vehicular collision.